Resource dependency and strategy in healthcare organizations during a time of scarce resources: evidence from the metropolitan area of cologne.

PURPOSE: Healthcare systems are under pressure to improve their performance, while at the same time facing severe resource constraints, particularly workforce shortages. By applying resource-dependency-theory (RDT), we explore how healthcare organizations in different settings perceive pressure arising from uncertain access to resources and examine organizational strategies they deploy to secure resources. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A cross-sectional survey of key decision-makers in different healthcare settings in the metropolitan area of Cologne, Germany, on perceptions of pressure arising from the environment and respective strategies was conducted. For comparisons between settings radar charts, Kruskal-Wallis test and Fisher-Yates test were applied. Additionally, correlation analyses were conducted. FINDINGS: A sample of n = 237(13%) key informants participated and reported high pressure caused by bureaucracy, time constraints and recruiting qualified staff. Hospitals, inpatient and outpatient nursing care organizations felt most pressurized. As suggested by RDT, organizations in highly pressurized settings deployed the most vociferous strategies to secure resources, particularly in relation to personnel development. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study is one of the few studies that focuses on the environment's impact on healthcare organizations across a variety of settings. RDT is a helpful theoretical foundation for understanding the environment's impact on organizational strategies. The substantial variations found between healthcare settings indicate that those settings potentially require specific strategies when seeking to address scarce resources and high demands. The results draw attention to the high level of pressure on healthcare organizations which presumably is passed down to managers, healthcare professionals, patients and relatives.

Is Organizational Communication Climate a Precondition for Patient-Centered Care? Insights from a Key Informant Survey of Various Health and Social Care Organizations.

Health and social care organizations are under pressure of organizing care around patients' needs and preferences while complying with regulatory frameworks and constraint resources. To implement patient-centered care in health and social care organizations successfully, particular organizational preconditions need to be considered. Findings on the implementation of patient-centered care and its preconditions are rare and insufficiently account for the organizational context to explain differences. This study examines the implementation status of patient-centered care in diverse health and social care organizations and analyzes the communication climate as a precondition of successful implementation. In a cross-sectional postal key informant survey, decision makers in the highest leading positions from six different types of health and social care organizations in Cologne, Germany, were surveyed using a paper-pencil questionnaire. Patient-centered care implementation was operationalized by three categories (principles, activities, and enablers) including 15 dimensions. Organizational communication climate was operationalized by aspects of open and constructive communication, cooperation, and inclusion. Out of 1790 contacted organizations, 237 participated. In the analyses, 215 complete datasets were included. Descriptive analyses, Kruskal-Wallis test, post hoc pair-wise test, and linear regression modeling were performed. Results show that the implementation status of patient-centered care was perceived as high but differed between the various types of organizations and in terms of patient-centered care categories. Organizational communication climate was significantly associated with the implementation of patient-centered care. Especially in organizations with a higher number of employees, strategies to create a positive communication climate are needed to create a precondition for patient-centered care.

The benefits of agreeing on what matters most: Team cooperative norms mediate the effect of co-leaders' shared goals on safety climate in neonatal intensive care units.

BACKGROUND: Safety climate research suggests that a corresponding climate in work units is crucial for patient safety. Intensive care units are usually co-led by a nurse and a physician, who are responsible for aligning an interprofessional workforce and warrant a high level of safety. Yet, little is known about whether and how these interprofessional co-leaders jointly affect their unit's safety climate. PURPOSE: This empirical study aims to explain differences in the units' safety climate as an outcome of the nurse and physician leaders' degree of shared goals. Specifically, we examine whether the degree to which co-leaders share goals in general fosters a safety climate by pronouncing norms of interprofessional cooperation as a behavioral standard for the team members' interactions. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A cross-sectional design was used to gather data from 70 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Germany. Survey data for our variables were collected from the unit's leading nurse and the leading physician, as well as from the unit's nursing and physician team members. Hypotheses testing at unit level was conducted using multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: Our analyses show that the extent to which nurse-physician co-leaders share goals covaries with safety climate in NICUs. This relationship is partially mediated by norms of interprofessional cooperation among NICU team members. Our final model accounts for 54% of the variability in safety climate of NICUs. CONCLUSION: Increasing the extent to which co-leaders share goals is an effective lever to strengthen interprofessional cooperation and foster a safety climate among nursing and physician team members of hospital units.

Exploring leading nurses' work values and their association with team safety climate: Results from a questionnaire survey in neonatal intensive care units.

AIM: To explore leading nurses' work values and their effect on the safety climate in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). BACKGROUND: Despite their significance for behaviour, the work values of leading nurses are still insufficiently studied. We explore the impact of work value dimensions (self-transcendence, self-enhancement, conservation, and openness to change) on the safety climate. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 86 German NICUs between September 2015 and August 2016. Our analyses relate questionnaire data from 75 leading nurses to the shared perceptions regarding safety among their team members (n = 1,277). We used fractional response modelling to identify important work values. RESULTS: The analysis showed differences between the dimensions of work values and their association with the safety climate. A significant positive association was found between the work value dimension self-transcendence (including the work values relationships with others and altruism) and safety climate (ß = 0.255, p = .001). A large team size has a negative impact on the safety climate. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that the leading nurse's score on self-transcendence is positively related to the safety climate. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results demonstrate that it might be useful to consider work values in the selection of nurse leaders.

Implementation of patient-centred care: which organisational determinants matter from decision maker's perspective? Results from a qualitative interview study across various health and social care organisations.

OBJECTIVES: Health and social care systems, organisations and providers are under pressure to organise care around patients' needs with constrained resources. To implement patient-centred care (PCC) successfully, barriers must be addressed. Up to now, there has been a lack of comprehensive investigations on possible determinants of PCC across various health and social care organisations (HSCOs). Our qualitative study examines determinants of PCC implementation from decision makers' perspectives across diverse HSCOs. DESIGN: Qualitative study of n=24 participants in n=20 semistructured face-to-face interviews conducted from August 2017 to May 2018. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Decision makers were recruited from multiple HSCOs in the region of the city of Cologne, Germany, based on a maximum variation sampling strategy varying by HSCOs types. OUTCOMES: The qualitative interviews were analysed using an inductive and deductive approach according to qualitative content analysis. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used to conceptualise determinants of PCC. RESULTS: Decision makers identified similar determinants facilitating or obstructing the implementation of PCC in their organisational contexts. Several determinants at the HSCO's inner setting and the individual level (eg, communication among staff and well-being of employees) were identified as crucial to overcome constrained financial, human and material resources in order to deliver PCC. CONCLUSIONS: The results can help to foster the implementation of PCC in various HSCOs contexts. We identified possible starting points for initiating the tailoring of interventions and implementation strategies and the redesign of HSCOs towards more patient-centredness.

Characteristics of value-based health and social care from organisations' perspectives (OrgValue): a mixed-methods study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Health and social care systems are under pressure to organise care around patients' needs with constrained resources. Several studies reveal that care is constantly challenged by balancing economic requirements against individual patients' preferences and needs. Therefore, value-based health and social care aims to facilitate patient-centredness while taking the resources spent into consideration. The OrgValue project examines the implementation of patient-centredness while considering the health and social care organisations' resource orientation in the model region of the city of Cologne, Germany. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: First, the implementation status of patient-centredness as well as its facilitators and barriers-also in terms of resource orientation-will be assessed through face-to-face interviews with decision-makers (at least n=18) from health and social care organisations (HSCOs) in Cologne. Second, patients' understanding of patient-centredness and their preferences and needs will be revealed by conducting face-to-face interviews (at least n=15). Third, the qualitative results will provide the basis for a quantitative survey of decision-makers from all HSCOs in Cologne, which will include questions on patient-centredness, resource orientation and determinants of implementation. Fourth, qualitative interviews with decision-makers from different types of HSCOs will be conducted to develop a uniform measurement instrument on the cost and service structure of HSCOs. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: For all collected data, the relevant data protection regulations will be adhered to. Consultation and a positive vote from the ethics committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne have been obtained. All personal identifiers (eg, name, date of birth) will be pseudonymised. Dissemination strategies include a feedback report as well as research and development workshops for the organisations with the aim of initiating organisational learning and organisational development, presenting results in publications and at conferences, and public relations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00011925.